The power of relationships

Originations with A lenders might be down in the broker channel, but Mortgage Savvy is proving it can still be done.

“We have continued to increase our funding volume with our A lenders by niching our market initiatives to attract AAA clients,” said Rakhee Dhingra, founder of Mortgage Savvy. “We have strategically partnered with realtor teams to attract the higher caliber client who has strong income and down payment capability.”

In fact, cultivating relationships with real estate agents is a preponderant reason Mortgage Savvy’s business model hasn’t suffered in a regulatory landscape that’s put downward pressure on A channel originations.

“It’s extremely crucial,” continued Dhingra. “When I started in the mortgage industry, I had realtors as my targets and it was really about understanding them, studying them, and understanding their niches. When you initially get into the industry, you have no reputation or brand; you start from scratch. So I’d meet with them to better understand their business so that I could offer exactly what they needed. That goes a long way towards building a relationship.”

Not much has changed for the three-year-old brokerage, other than its team, which consists of Relationship Manager Chantal Gervais, Marketing Director Vanessa Galley, agent Emily Kiparisas, and Dhingra.

“We have to make sure we’re connecting in every opportunity, so we spend a lot of time in our realtor partners’ offices, going to their team meetings, connecting over coffee and lunch, executing their events, like a first-time buyer event, and doing their open houses,” said Gervais.

The approach is two-pronged: Kiparisas, in addition to being a Canadian Mortgage Award-nominated agent, spends a  great deal of time forging strong affiliations with A lenders—whose funding is scarcer under B-20—to ensure doors remain open to Mortgage Savvy’s AAA clientele.

“We always have an understanding of what products they offer and what their niches are, and being able to send them business in order to maintain those positive working relationships,” she said. “It speaks to the quality of business we bring in that we can maintain the relationships.”

And it’s paying off. In 2017, Mortgage Savvy’s volume was in excess of $66 million, followed by $91m last year, and this year it projects $100m. Founding the brokerage around the time regulatory changes took hold in the industry could explain why Mortgage Savvy hasn’t had to recalibrate an entire business model.

“year-over-year, we continue to see growth in our funding volume,” said Dhingra. “We came into the industry amid changes and have learned to adapt in finding solutions for our clients. We speak at industry events and have focused on building our credibility one deal at a time and one relationship at a time.”

This year, Mortgage Savvy was awarded for the best mortgage companies to work for in Canada in the recent top mortgage employers survey, learn more about the winners here.